walking together on the way of saint james

Month: April 2017

About a week after leaving Le Puy, it starts to feel almost routine. You follow the red and white stripes of the Chemin de Saint Jacques (the Way of Saint James) along shaded paths, crumbling castles towering above. You enter a village, another one of France’s most beautiful. In this case, you’ve come to Espalion. You … More Scuba Diving the Lot River?

“I’ll push you.” Okay, when I say that, it’s usually a threat, not a promise. But I’m not Patrick Gray. Maybe you saw this profile on the TODAY show last week, about the two childhood best friends from Idaho who tackled the Camino Frances together. Two friends walking isn’t so unusual, but this is: one … More “I’ll Push You.” (Video)

It was a warm, sunny day in May when we walked into Puente La Reina. As we approached the town, something caught my attention. “What is that on top of the chimney tower? It looks like a…nest? But that would be huge!” It was a nest, and it was huge. And if I looked really, … More Storks in Strange Places

(An excerpt from the book in progress, describing the morning of April 8, 2015.) Despite the wine and the jet lag, I slept fitfully in Le Puy, waking every hour to stare into the darkness and listen to pilgrims breathing in the cubicles around me. We were so close to beginning this thing. When my … More The Morning We Became Pilgrims of Le Puy